Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Grand Ole Opry Song
2. Keep on the Sunny Side
3. Nashville Blues
4. You Are My Flower
5. Precious Jewel
6. Dark as a Dungeon
7. Tennessee Stud
8. Black Mountain Rag
9. Wreck on the Highway
10. End of the World
11. I Saw the Light
12. Sunny Side of the Mountain
13. Nine Pound Hammer
14. Losin' You (Might Be the Best Thing Yet)
15. Honky Tonkin'
16. You Don't Know My Mind
17. My Walkin' Shoes

Disc 2:

1. Togary Mountain
2. Earl's Breakdown
3. Orange Blossom Special
4. Wabash Cannonball
5. Lonesome Fiddle Blues
6. Cannonball Rag
7. Avalanchie
8. Flint Hill Special
9. Foggy Mountain Breakdown
10. Warming Up for "The Opry" (talk)
11. Sunny Side (talk)
12. Remember Me
13. Lost Highway
14. Doc Watson and Merle Travis: First Meeting
15. Way Downtown
16. Down Yonder
17. Pins and Needles (In My Heart)
18. Honky Tonk Blues
19. Sailin' on to Hawaii
20. I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes
21. I Am a Pilgrim
22. Wildwood Flower
23. Soldier's Joy
24. Will the Circle Be Unbroken
25. Both Sides Now
26. Foggy Mountain Breakdown [#]
27. Warming Up for "The Opry" [Talk][#]
28. Sunny Side [Talk][#]
29. Remember Me [#]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5111 in Music
• Released on: 2002-03-26
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered

Amazon.com
In an age when the old-timey soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou? sells 5 million copies, it's hard to imagine how revolutionary Will the Circle Be Unbroken seemed upon its release 30 years ago. The triple album (now rereleased as a two-CD set) paired many of Nashville's venerable country and bluegrass performers (Roy Acuff, Mother Maybelle Carter, Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, Merle Travis, Jimmy Martin, Vassar Clements) with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, or as Acuff called them, "a bunch of long-haired West Coast boys." The idea seemed nearly as foreign as Martians setting down in Tennessee, but the Dirt Band were Colorado hippies steeped in the genre, so there was no disputing the authenticity of the music, or its earthy appeal. Aside from the sheer joy of the performances (listen to Jimmy Martin's "whoop" on "Sunny Side of the Mountain"), there's great fun in hearing Roy Acuff give the boys a lesson in doing a song right the first time (and using the word hell before launching into a religious number). And Mother Maybelle wafts through like a benevolent ghost, or at least a patron saint. One caveat: The boast of four previously unreleased tracks is balderdash, since three are really between-track conversations and rehearsals, and only "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" qualifies as a real song. But that's nitpicking. Buy it. Love it. Wallow in it. O brother, that's country music! --Alanna Nash

Customer Reviews

you are there....
As Will the Circle Be Unbroken came together I was living the dream of a young picker: getting to play with the people who created the form of music I had grown to love and yearned to emulate. The story on how this came about is available, but the result is what counts here. It was one of the best experiences in my life, and captured a young band at its best, shining our spotlight at the time on our heroes. And boy, did they shine back.
Vassar set the benchmark for fiddlers to aspire to with his hot inspired approach.. Earl as always defined the 5 string banjo ... Roy sang great and his performances stand as some of his best work. Travis and his songs bring you in to a different branch of the country folk world with his genius guitar style matched by his wise words written from his Kentucky background. Doc shares with everyone his joy of hot music, and makes everyone feel at home. (The first time meeting between Doc and Merle helped us out, as when we saw it happening we realized we were in a group of great people who were all truly fans of each other as much as we were of them.) Jimmy Martin demonstrated to us between cuts that he knew what his music should sound like, and cordially let us in on the secrets. He is one of the best bluegrass/country singers, and here shows why that is said. Maybelle was like an angel and, never realizing her impact on music in general, just wanted to do her songs in a way that would 'please everyone... the more the merrier.. ' She would laid down the spirit of the whole project . This was not something she could teach, but from her we learned.

This is a great album, and I say this not because I am a part of it. I do not listen to a lot of albums. I rarely listen to other Dirt Band music, although I like it. And, I play it live. But, after I remastered this from the original masters, and having heard it over the years, it seems like I would have had enough. I have listened to this probably 50 times since remastering, and look forward to the next flight where I can take a trip back to a time that was in a space where we all are frozen in the moment.

Circle represents much of the best of American music, songs, picking, singing, writing... and still draws me to it. I am sure anyone who likes acoustic music of the Americana type will find themselves drawn to it also. Circle becomes a welcome part of your life.
Thanks to the 96/24 mastering, it sounds better than ever, too.

The new pieces I put in are all equally important to me. I am proud that the Washington Post's great review mistakenly said Earl played Foggy Mt. Breakdown. The talking cuts showcase Jimmy Martin and his way of getting to the point, and gives us further insight to the true bluegrass great: funny, natural, strange.. and a definite opinion of exactly where he wants his music. And he is right.

The piece around Sunny Side is there to show all who have asked over the years "what was it like?" It captures the true spontaneity of the sessions; the constant chatter of all the players, uncertain of who was going to play where, how it starts, if one should wear picks or not... and it all of a sudden blends in to the start of such a touching piece of great music that now obviously comes from real people who are creating it from the heart.

The perfect closing song for this remastered work I found in the hours of the constant running tape, the bit of song where Doc asks us to "Remember Me when the twilight begins to fall.." and seems to speak for everyone. As I sat in the control room on the third day of running the tapes I said to the engineer "I hope today we come across the perfect closer for this" and it was the next piece of music.

So here it is - this journey back in time we were so very fortunate to make and be a part of - Will the Circle Be Unbroken in time I believe we will find to be as well known in American culture as has Wizard of Oz, Dark Side of the Moon, The Music Man, Citizen Kane, The Tonight Show, The Grand Ole Opry, and ...

A Bluegrass work of art!
In 1971, the boys of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band got together with some of the all-time greats of Country music (including Earl Scruggs, Mother Maybelle Carter, Merle Travis, Roy Acuff and others), and produced a three record album that was one of the greatest Bluegrass Country music albums ever made. Some thirty years later, this album has been re-released on two CDs, with four bonus tracks (three are dialogue and the other is the Bluegrass classic, Foggy Mountain Breakdown).

This is a great CD collection. The music is absolutely wonderful to listen to, a real work of art, sure to be enjoyed by any Bluegrass fan. Though the title might suggest that this is a collection of religious songs, in fact only a few are overtly religious, while most are simply Bluegrass tunes played by real experts. I loved listening to this album, and highly recommend it to you!

Must-have Americana
Remastered! Bonus tracks! Yea, whatever... You can read the other reviews to find out how important or spiritual or how much fun to make this album is, I suppose. But DO NOT BE FOOLED into thinking that this is some musical Mt. Everest that cannot be approached and appreciated by us puny mortals! Nonsense! Buy this album because it is jam-packed with incredible music and wonderful performances that you won't hear anywhere else. To me, the musical highlights are Earl Scrugg's beautifully understated guitar work on many of the tracks (yes, I said guitar) and John McEuen's banjo work (the man is a monster of old-time pickin'). I don't know that I have a favorite cut but the title track will do. This re-mastered version is nice; I don't know that the bonus tracks add all that much, however. The original 3 disk vinyl and the older CD were already worth a 5 star review, ya know? Pickers should get it to learn from the Masters. Young persons should listen to it so that they understand their civics lessons. This is American Music, Son. Be proud!